Jake Guentzel scored a hat trick in the second period, and the Tampa Bay Lightning rallied for a 6-5 win against the Buffalo Sabres at Amalie Arena on Thursday.
Oliver Bjorkstrand broke a tie early in the third period in his debut for the Lightning (37-21-4), who have won 10 of 11. Nikita Kucherov had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 28 saves.
Bjorkstrand gave Tampa Bay a 6-5 lead at 1:40 of the third period, stuffing in a rebound after Kucherov’s initial shot.
“I was just trying to stay around the net, I saw Kucherov had the puck, so I figured something would probably happen,” Bjorkstrand said. “[Yanni Gourde] had a good screen and it just kind of came in front of me. I just tapped it in.
“Any player on a new team…it’s nice to get that first goal, not that you think too much about it. It’s great that we found a way to win.”
Bjorkstrand and Gourde, who had the primary assist on the go-ahead goal, were acquired by the Lightning from the Seattle Kraken as part of a three-team trade also involving the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday.
“We had a few chances, and I want to be around the paint and help create some stuff,” Gourde said. “I was so excited for Oliver to get that goal.”
Said Lightning coach Jon Cooper: “I thought both guys…they played three time zones away just 48 hours ago and you can make an argument they were two of our best forwards out there.”
Rasmus Dahlin and JJ Peterka each had a goal and an assist for the Sabres (24-31-6), who have lost five straight (0-4-1). Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 20 saves.
“I didn’t [like] the first five minutes of the game, but after that I thought we skated well and made a lot of plays,” Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff said. “It was enough that we should’ve gotten a win.”
Nick Paul gave Tampa Bay a 1-0 lead at 5:01 of the first period when his centering pass attempt deflected off Connor Clifton’s skate and in.
Dahlin tied it 1-1 at 5:17 when he took control of the puck in the neutral zone and snapped a wrist shot past Vasilevskiy glove side.
“Too many selfish plays, I had a stupid penalty, it’s bad,” Dahlin said. “We had a ton of chances, we just couldn’t bear down when we got the chances. We let them come into our end and score easy goals. It’s frustrating.”
Darren Raddysh put the Lightning ahead 2-1 at 6:53 with a shot from the point that deflected off Bowen Byram’s stick and over Luukkonen.
Alex Tuch tied it 2-2 at 8:20 on a shot from the right circle that beat Vasilevskiy to the far post. It was his fifth goal in the past six games.
Peyton Krebs gave Buffalo a 3-2 lead at 17:09 with a shot from the hashmarks off a pass from Ryan McLeod.
Guentzel tied it 3-3 at 58 seconds of the second period when he chipped the puck past Luukkonen from the doorstep off a pass from Erik Cernak.
“We stuck with it,” Guentzel said. “We know they are a high-powered offense, so you just have to stay with them. One of those games that just happens throughout the year.”
Tage Thompson put the Sabres back ahead 4-3 with a power-play goal at 9:35, a wrist shot from above the left circle that beat Vasilevskiy stick side.
Peterka extended it to 5-3 at 12:40 when he forced a turnover by Kucherov and sent a snap shot from the right circle past Vasilevskiy glove side.
“Our offense was there, but we just gave them too much,” Buffalo forward Dylan Cozens said. “They’re a team that’s going to capitalize if you give them chances and they did that. When we get up two goals with two minutes left in the period, we’ve got to find a way to get out of that period and go into the third up two, obviously we didn’t do that.”
Guentzel’s second goal of the game cut it to 5-4 at 17:43, scoring from close range off a pass from Brayden Point. He completed the hat trick at 18:46 with a power-play goal to tie it 5-5, a one-timer from the right circle off a pass from Brandon Hagel.
The hat trick was Guentzel’s second this season and seventh of his career.
“It’s just a good play by [Hagel], I’m just trying to get open,” Guentzel said. “Obviously he made a good sell and made it pretty easy.”
The Sabres had a 6-on-3 advantage for the final 23 seconds after two minor penalties against the Lightning and Luukonen pulled for the extra skater, but Cernak blocked Thompson’s shot from the point to end the game.
“[Thompson] has as heavy a shot I’ve seen in a while,” Cooper said. “It’s the want to win and that’s what you want to see from your players. You’re begging for that to happen…it was a big play for us.”
Said Ruff: “Some of the plays we made were high-end plays to get the lead. We knew they were going to get some chances. We didn’t defend well on the sixth goal.”
NOTES: Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman left the game early in the first period and did not return. Cooper did not have any further updates. … Sabres forward Jack Quinn left the game after four shifts with an illness. Ruff said that he got sick on the bench after his final shift. … Hagel had two assists and reached the 70-point mark for the second straight season.
